A Fragment of Time
by LunaMoth116
Summary: Sherlock experiments, John confronts his prejudices, and their unlikely friendship may be turning into something more. Various exploits of Mage!lock and Templar!son around the Tower, in fifty sentences. Inspired by the LiveJournal 1sentence community. Follows "A Wider Circle" and "A Test of Power".


**A Fragment of Time**

_A/N: And now we finally get a little more shippy. ;) I had so much fun with my first 50-sentence set, I knew I had to do one for these two. These sentences follow a predetermined set of words, and are not in chronological order; there is a major spoiler for the preceding story, "A Test of Power", so you may want to read at least that one, but reading both preceding stories should help with understanding chronology and character development. Hope you enjoy!_

_For Kathryn, my awesome cousin who feeds all my nerdy obsessions, and whom I hope is reading this. (If not, well...I look forward to Thanksgiving. ^_~) Though whether she adds any of my stories to the 1000 or so pages of fic she has on her iPad is entirely her prerogative (no, that's not hyperbole– she really is just that awesome_).

**Disclaimer: **_I know it's entirely possible to be a fan of your own work, but if I owned _Sherlock _or _Dragon Age_, I doubt this would be called fanfiction. :P_

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"_If I had my way, I would never leave_

_Keep building these random memories_

_Turning our days into melodies_

_But since I can't stay_

_I'll just keep playing back_

_These fragments of time_

_Everywhere I go _

_These moments will shine."_

_~ "Fragments of Time", Daft Punk (feat. Todd Edwards)_

**#01 – Motion**

Magic, Sherlock explains to John, is just movement, just reaching into the heart of the environment around you, drawing on its essence and channeling that into a new form of energy – heat, cold, growth, entropy, things like that – so it's the most natural thing in the world, really.

**#02 – Cool**

The coolness of his sheets used to be a welcome comfort after a long day spent in hot, heavy armor, but on the nights he meets Sherlock, John only thinks about how cold the bed seems.

**#03 – Young**

Seven and twenty-one were their respective ages when they left their old lives behind – one by chance, one by choice, both young in their own way – and John is undecided as to whether those numbers were lucky or not.

**#04 – Last**

As Sherlock lies prone on the ground, face smashed against the cold stone, able to feel his arms and legs yet otherwise incapacitated, grasping as if in the dark for the precious connection he had always taken for granted, he vows his first smiting will also be his last – and in the eighteen years following, it is.

**#05 – Wrong**

Sherlock would never admit this to anyone, not even himself, but the day he met John was the day he began to realize even he might not always be right about everything.

**#06 – Gentle**

When John learns that Sherlock is looking for Mr. Wiggums, no one is more surprised than he is when he walks into the senior mage quarters the next night and finds the cat unharmed, nuzzling Sherlock's leg as he sits at his desk, and lifting his head to receive Sherlock's occasional scratches behind the ear.

**#07 – One**

Some might be skeptical that it took just one mage to make John start to rethink everything he thought he knew, but his response would be that it only takes one seed to grow a mighty oak.

**#08 **_–_ **Thousand**

_I__'ve been here for nearly two decades_, John agonizes one sleepless night_, and how many children have I torn from their families, how many innocent people have I whipped, how many have I rendered absolutely powerless with a single gesture, how many Harrowings have I seen fail, how many mages have I seen turn Tranquil, how many have I made feel absolutely terrified of me – of all of us?_

**#09 **– **King**

John is initially surprised at the lack of reaction to King Cailan's death, until he realizes Irving and Greagoir have no reason to care, apart from their usual murmurings of sympathy _–_ they seldom answer to the Crown, or any secular authority for that matter.

**#10 – Learn**

_Born in Rainesfere, youngest child from a well-to-do family, was Harrowed at least five years ago, likes creation magic but is really more suited to spirit – _with some (unknowing) help from Sherlock, John is amazed at what he can learn about someone in just a glance, and it's not long before he's adding to his mental dossier almost every day.

**#11 – Blur**

"Sherlock – wait, how did you – no, you're over there now – uh, you might want to restack those books later – did you honestly just cross the entire quarters in under five – Maker, I think I'm getting whiplash – anyway, I really don't think combining Swift Salve and Haste will help you get more done – _could you stand still for longer than three seconds, please_?"

**#12 – Wait**

It fell to John to strike the killing blow at today's Harrowing, and while he doesn't know what made him stay his hand just a few moments longer than Greagoir ordered, much later he thanks Andraste and the Maker hundreds of times over while enduring the scolding, because in that instant, the newest senior mage had finally opened his eyes.

**#13 – Change**

Perhaps the two of them are merely drops in an ocean whose depths rival that of the barrels of lyrium John has consumed over the years, but he always remembers what his mother told him: every drop of water leaves ripples.

**#14 – Command**

Sherlock eventually realizes it doesn't matter whether or not he knows Moriarty's true name; he holds Moriarty's command simply by virtue of Moriarty allowing him to call him something, _anything_, apart from "demon".

**#15 – Hold**

John can count on one hand the number of times he's seen Sherlock without his gloves, but he doubts idle curiosity is what makes him wonder what those long, elegant fingers would feel like entwined in his own.

**#16 – Need**

It's not until two months after meeting Sherlock that John realizes since then, he's only drunk one lyrium potion per week, instead of per day.

**#17 **– **Vision**

"You dragged me all the way up here at this ungodly hour just so we could see the sunrise?" Sherlock grumbles (though it's not like he was sleeping anyway), but despite his complaining, he does not fail to notice how the rosy light bathes John's smiling face and gilds every strand of his sandy hair.

**#18 – Attention**

"Certainly – you can leave it on my desk, I'll reheat it later," is Sherlock's answer to Molly when she asks if he'd like to have a cup of tea, and he doesn't notice her crestfallen expression, nor hear her subdued "...All right" as he walks away.

**#19 – Soul**

"Yes, thank you, goodbye Owain," Sherlock says abruptly, and as he hurries away from the stockroom and its keeper, he tries not to remember the flickers of light he saw in Owain's glassy eyes, or the faintest hints of a smile, glimmers of the soul that once shone brightly within the man.

**#20 – Picture**

"Someone who couldn't get the temperature right on Cone of Cold _and _had terrible aim," Sherlock explains when John asks about the water-stained portrait on the wall.

**#21 – Fool**

Anders has escaped _again_, and John and Sherlock argue about who is the bigger fool: Anders, for thinking he can get away, or Greagoir and Irving, for thinking they can keep him.

**#22 – Mad**

"He's _quite _mad, that one," is the general sentiment whenever Sherlock comes up in conversation among the mages, which isn't often, and every time John overhears such a comment, he has to bite back a smile and the interjection, "Yes, he's mad – more importantly, an idiot, but you're right, he's mad."

**#23 – Child**

"Go on, run along and play," John says with an encouraging smile, and as the little apprentice runs off to catch up with her friends, he tries not to think about how long it will be before she's too afraid to even look at him.

**#24 – Now**

If they'd had lives like those on the outside take for granted, at their ages they probably would have both been settled comfortably into ordinary jobs, married, and raising families, eventually going on to peaceful deaths surrounded by their living legacies – as it is, one now lives a life dictated by his craft, and the other by his faith.

**#25 – Shadow**

Three years' service in the Denerim city guard taught John to watch every shadow; he never imagined he'd be putting that knowledge to use just to see his best friend.

**#26 – Goodbye**

"I knew I'd probably never see her again, but I – I didn't think it would be so _soon _after she left, no time to write, even," a tearful Finn tells his companion, and as much as John aches to walk over and comfort him, share in the simultaneous loss of a best friend and someone he wishes he'd known, the most he can do is include those lost at Ostagar in his prayers, and make sure to tell Sherlock later, "It's good to see you today."

**#27 – Hide**

On one night when they're nearly discovered, they end up squeezed together in a corner, and as they hold their respective breaths waiting for the mage to leave (just what old text was so important he had to look for it at this hour, anyway?), John tries to ignore the feeling of Sherlock's chest moving against his, and his constant thoughts of _Oh, now people will _really _talk_.

**#28 – Fortune**

The treasure hunt Molly and Sally embark on one afternoon, based on notes scattered around their quarters and the library, results in them finding an empty cache with nothing but a few silvers; however, it does make a nice hiding spot for Sherlock's valuable stash of experimental potions.

**#29 – Safe**

_Who is the tower really meant to protect, _John wonders, _the rest of the world from the mages, or the mages from themselves?_

**#30 – Ghost**

Ever since he performed that summoning spell he found in the library, Sherlock is fairly sure something has been watching him – even though he sees nothing when he turns around, and there might be other, more mundane explanations for his missing possessions – so he counts the experiment as a success.

**#31 – Book**

While fresh air would be nice, John and Sherlock both agree there is no scent more delightful than that of old books.

**#32 **– **Eye**

John looks the young mage in the eye just before the Rite begins, and sees a brilliant shade of green, like new spring leaves, bright with determination, fear, and a hint of warmth; much later, when next she opens her eyes, the verdant green has faded to a pale, soupy pool with a mere suggestion of color, and no hint of a mind, or heart.

**#33 – Never**

John's _his _templar, _his_, not Greagoir's, not Florian's – no, Finn, that was Surana's friend's name, right? Never mind – Maker forbid _not _Irving's, not anyone else's, no one should _dare _try to take him from Sherlock, not that they would, he's not interested in men anyway, even if he was he's most certainly not any of _their _types, and not that he'd ever think of Sherlock or any other mage that way – _he isn't theirs and he never will be_.

**#34 – Sing**

_If you're waiting for a singing choir to announce how you feel_, his friend Lestrade tells him in his next letter, _you'll be waiting a while, because trust me, that isn't how it's going to happen_.

**#35 – Sudden**

It didn't happen the way John had always pictured it would – there was no singing choir, no lurch in his chest, no change in the torches' glow or the softness of his blanket – just a simple, sudden revelation in the middle of the night: _I'd do anything for him, I just want him to be happy._

**#36 – Stop**

Sherlock's memories of his mother are dim, but the one day he recalls with perfect clarity was their last together, when the templars led him away, and she never made a move or uttered a word to stop them.

**#37 – Time**

As the days pass into weeks and weeks into months since they met, they gradually only remember their time together in fragments, mere moments – a smile, a laugh, a debate, a lesson, a warm cup of tea.

**#38 **– **Wash**

If Sherlock slept, he would wake an hour before everyone else to launder his robes, aided by a full bucket, homemade soap, and very, _very _mild Flame Blasts (he's chosen to forget how many robes were lost before he fine-tuned the energy _just right_), so as not to have to toss them into the communal washing pile; as it is, laundry is simply another item on his endless agenda, with no thought given to how late the hour or how exhausted he might be by the time he reaches it.

**#39 – Torn**

_I've met this mage who's absolutely unbelievable – _no, that doesn't sound good – _I've met this mage who's the most incredible person –_ oh Maker, no, he's not a lovesick schoolgirl – _I've met a wonderful man, a mage, in fact – _yes, _that _doesn't sound suspicious – John scratches that last sentence out with such ferocity that his quill tears the parchment, and as he's getting a new piece he decides not to mention Sherlock at all in his letter to his parents.

**#40 **– **History**

"It's simply unbelievable, John," Sherlock tells him one evening after perusing a few history books, shaking his head as he continues, "Did you know that before the Circle was created, the Chantry used mages exclusively for lighting candles and lamps – _candles?!_"

**#41 **– **Power**

Sherlock doesn't get a glimpse of John's true abilities until the day he witnesses a fight between two apprentices in the hall, and John smites them both with a single hand motion – and would have knocked Sherlock out too, if he hadn't stepped into an open doorway just in time.

**#42 – Bother**

Sherlock doesn't hear from Mycroft often, but on the few occasions he does, he's always left wondering if it's a coincidence that there is only one letter's difference between _brother _and _bother_.

**#43 **– **God**

John has always been devoted to the Maker, but though he dutifully attends chapel services week after week and prays three times a day without fail, when he looks at Sherlock he wonders how many different ways one can experience the way He works.

**#44 – Wall**

It doesn't take long for John to pick out Sherlock's bed in the senior mage quarters, as it's the only one whose opposite wall is riddled with holes.

**#45 – Naked**

When Sherlock's Ring of Study goes missing for a day, he develops a wrist cramp from the number of times he pulls off his glove and looks at his bare left hand, seeing the callus from fifteen years of daily wear, and feeling naked despite his layers of clothes and robes.

**#46 – Drive**

As he and two other templars show a new group of apprentices to their quarters, John is uncomfortably reminded of the summers he worked on his uncle's farm and spent some of his days driving cattle.

**#47 – Harm**

John once heard the saying that it is better to be feared than loved, and realizes with horror that nowhere is that more true than the Circle Tower – the whole damn system, even – between the violence toward the mages and the threat of lyrium withdrawal for the templars...among other casualties.

**#48 – Precious**

People might scoff when Sherlock tries to recruit them for an experiment, roll their eyes when he goes in search of some obscure material or text to the exclusion of all other priorities, never speak to him again or "accidentally" miscast a Fireball after finding one too many failures stashed under _their _bed – but what they will never understand is that all the knowledge he can gather, insignificant as it might seem to them or the world at large, is the most precious thing he has.

**#49 – Hunger**

"I'm not leaving until you finish all of it," John tells Sherlock, as the other stares distastefully at the poppy seed cake, dried meat and fruit John brought him, wrapped in cloth; when he sees Sherlock's expression perk up at the notion, he quickly amends his statement to, "I'm leaving right now unless you start eating, or if you haven't finished in five minutes – whichever comes first."

**#50 – Believe **

John has always been anchored by his faith – faith in himself, faith in the Maker, faith in those who said they could speak for Him – and though Sherlock is the most logical, grounded person he knows, their unlikely friendship has only strengthened his spirituality, his belief that the Maker has a plan for his life as well as Sherlock's – and perhaps it is no coincidence that both the Maker and the mage are matters of the heart.

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_A/N: Thank you so much for reading! Hope you enjoyed. :) Please note that if you want to know when the next story in this universe comes out, set an _Author Alert, NOT _a Story Alert._

_Credit goes to Albert Einstein for the brilliant, touching quote that inspired #48 - "All our science, measured against reality, is primitive and childlike - and yet it is the most precious thing we have."_

_Thanks also to amasaglajax, creator of the "Epsilon" theme set. (You can find that set, and the four others available, at the 1sentence community.)_

_And a final thank you to Selkit, an excellent author you can find on here (for _Dragon Age _and _Mass Effect, _plus a few other fandoms__), whose sweet, touching 50-sentence set "Life Among the Xenophiles" (F!Shepard/Garrus) was the first I ever read. Thanks for the inspiration. :)_


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